What is headless WordPress? Even if you’ve been using WordPress for years, that’s a question you might not know the answer to. If you Google it, you’ll get a lot of tech jargon that might leave you with even more questions, so let’s try to answer it as simply as possible.
The post What is Headless WordPress? Explained for Beginners appeared first on Themeisle Blog.
Are you looking for the best magazine WordPress themes? Then you’ve come to the right place. We have searched the web and done the research. If you’re looking to swap themes or just starting, one of these magazine themes should meet your needs.
Choosing the ‘best’ themes for a collection is a subjective task. We’ve followed some guidelines for this article to help with the selection process. All the themes in this article are from trusted developers and marketplaces. They have received positive reviews and ratings and have been kept up to date since their original release.
The design and features of themes have also played a significant role in their selection. However, please bear in mind that what you may deem an attractive design or essential feature in a theme isn’t necessarily what the next person considers stylish or necessary. Hopefully, though, there’s something to suit everyone in this collection.
So now you know how the themes in this collection were chosen, let’s get started!
Extra, one of our themes, is a magazine theme powered by the Divi Builder. Apart from the Divi Builder’s extensive features, it also contains extra modules making it a perfect fit for creating an online magazine.
The new category modules include a post carousel and featured post slider, helping display your content at its best. Extra also lets you monetize your site through its advertisement module. You can also improve ad engagement by placing ads directly into your post feeds.
Additionally, Extra uses the powerful Divi builder, equipping you with drag-and-drop functionality making it easier to create custom post and category templates for your magazine website. Extra also comes with advanced mega menus that show recent posts, favorite posts, and anything you desire! Extra also features a trending article. As a magazine theme, you get the most customization options with Extra.
Key Features:
Pricing: Paid plans start at $89
Felt LT is a magazine theme geared towards bloggers by Pixel Grade. All Pixel Grade themes come with a powerful customization tool called Style Manager which allows you to set the branding for your website. Also, Gutenberg works flawlessly with Felt LT for building your pages and posts. The theme also includes several news-centric widgets to help you display your blog posts aesthetically pleasingly.
For the blogger or media outlet wanting to monetize their site, Felt provides dedicated widgets and widget areas for ad placement. Whether you want to monetize via PPC or want more control over promoting blog posts, Felt allows you to display advertisements on your site simply and effectively.
Key Features:
Pricing: Paid plans start at $75 per year
Bucket is another magazine WordPress theme from Pixel Grade. This news-focused WordPress theme comes with various homepage layouts so that your best stories can be showcased beautifully to your readers. Bucket comes with a custom review system so that you can quickly write reviews of restaurants, music, and more. It includes a score breakdown pros and cons list, which can be customized to match your branding.
Bucket’s mega menu system is another place to highlight popular articles within your online magazine. Your mega menu can feature cards, sliders, and submenus beautifully. On top of that, Bucket follows good SEO practices, so your articles will rank well in search engines, generating more eyes for your online publication.
Key features:
Pricing: Paid plans start at $75 per year
Pressbox is a magazine theme flexible to work with online publications, media companies, affiliate marketers, and more. The theme is GDPR friendly as well as mobile responsive. Optimized for performance, this magazine WordPress theme boasts near-perfect scores with GTMetrix, Lighthouse, and Chrome’s Performance Insights tools, which is quite impressive. It has several unique, magazine-specific features like a native affiliate disclaimer, displaying post update dates, and sticky headers, which can help build a standout magazine website for your brand.
Pressbox was built with Gutenberg mind. As such, it supports and has a few block patterns you can use to build your magazine website. The theme includes several demos, so getting your online magazine up in no time isn’t an issue with Pressbox.
Key features:
Pricing: Paid plans start at $85 per year
MH Magazine is a well-versed and fast-loading theme designed to impress SEO experts. The code was written with the best SEO practices in mind. The theme is SEO optimized with a strong focus on SEO fundamentals ranking well on search engines at the forefront. The theme is a widgetized template with multiple widget areas and many custom widgets you can place anywhere.
It’s an excellent choice for any magazine, blog, or content SEO-focused agency. MH Magazine is one of the best SEO WordPress themes for those who want to build an online news or media platform focusing on content marketing.
Features include:
Pricing: $49 per year
Public Opinion is another CSS Igniter Theme, similar to Neuton. It is a flexible magazine WordPress theme with areas for ads, a breaking news ticker, and multiple homepage options. Public Opinion is powerful to work with most online publishing needs. It has a mobile-focused design, with support for translations and WooCommerce. Additionally, you can create custom archive pages. When used in tandem with its custom posts block, you can create different looks and layouts for the various tags, categories, or archives used on your media site.
Noozbeat is an alternate style included in the Public Opinion theme. It is a fully responsive, beautiful skin for news and magazine websites. Easy to use, this theme provides unique layout options, helping you publish articles that will stand out. Multiple category layouts, custom widgets, and unlimited color variations are some other features offered with this skin.
Key Features:
Price: Paid plans start at $49
Newspaper is one of the highest-rated magazine and blog themes on the Themeforest marketplace. It is jam-packed with all you need to build a high-performing, visually appealing online news or magazine site. From its native opt-in builder to more than 25 WooCommerce-specific modules, this powerful theme is rightfully named one of the best magazine themes on Themeforest for a reason.
Boost lead generation, enhance conversion rates, and attract subscribers by leveraging opt-in content lockers and subscription lists. With the Newspaper theme, you can utilize its native Opt-In Builder to effortlessly craft enticing content lockers, providing your visitors with a compelling incentive to unlock valuable content. This can help you easily monetize your website without using additional plugins on your magazine website.
Key Features:
Pricing:Â $118 per year
JNews is another Themeforest theme, one of the best magazine themes in its marketplace. Aside from building a feature-rich online magazine site, you can build sites for your podcast or even a video-focused website similar to YouTube or Vimeo. You can do all this while efficiently monetizing your written, audio, and video content with JNew’s native tools. Indeed, JNews is one of the best magazine WordPress themes for those who want to do more than have an online magazine.
For those looking to build their media empire on WordPress, consider using JNews, especially if you plan on hiring a team of writers for your site. Give your writers the ability to submit articles, posts, and media to your site without logging into the WordPress backend. Your admins or editors can then approve the status of submitted posts, and you can protect your site while making it easy for your team to contribute to your blog.
Key Features:
Pricing: $118 per year
Magazine Pro from StudioPress has an up-to-the-minute look and feel. This professional yet sleek design will wow your viewers without detracting from your content. The theme’s versatility will enable you to display articles at their best. Magazine Pro’s ease of use will ensure your website is created and up and running within no time. It comes with three homepage widget areas that you can use to showcase your latest articles and more.
Magazine Pro also has six unique post layouts, allowing you to fully customize how your articles are displayed. Additionally, the sidebars in this theme make it easy to showcase various widgets like your latest categories, comments, search, and more.
Key Features:
Pricing: $360 per year
News is a starter site for the Sydney theme by aThemes. With the pro version of Sydney, you get access to powerful features and 17+ starter sites, including News — a newspaper site with clean serif fonts and beautiful typography. You can quickly redesign your site’s header and footer quickly with the Customizer. There are also several flexible layouts that you can use for your blog posts and archive pages. Sydney also integrates well with Elementor, and WPForms, amongst other popular WordPress plugins.
The News starter site for Sydney is built with Elementor, which makes building your magazine site a breeze. It also has a set of magazine-specific widgets that make your news site come, including a news ticket, related post layouts, and much more.
Key Features:
Pricing: Paid plans start at $69 per year
Tribune is a powerful WordPress magazine theme from WPZoom. Its magazine features make it an excellent choice for online news or another editorial site. Tribune can display featured posts in a slider or carousel on the homepage, helping grab the attention of your visitors. It can also embed videos from other websites, displaying the news as it happens.
Tribune has a prominent homepage section that you can use to showcase your latest posts or hand-picked individual posts in a dynamic slider. Videos can also use the slider. Next to the slider, you can use the widget area to seamlessly incorporate a selection of different widgets or use it as prime real estate for advertisements.
Key Features:
Price: Paid plans start at $59 per year
Compass is a sophisticated magazine theme enabling you to show off your content in style. This customizable theme, with an easily configurable homepage, will let you create a unique website. It also includes a draggable slideshow with touch support.
Build and customize your homepage layout with custom magazine-specific widgets by WPZOOM. The homepage has multiple widget areas, so you can create enticing and engaging homepages to promote and showcase your website’s most exciting blog posts.
Key Features:
Price: Paid plans start at $69 per year
Neuton, from CSSIgniter, is a responsive news and magazine theme. This original and sleek design makes Neuton one of the best magazine WordPress themes. Neuton also boasts powerful features, with page builder support, flexible widgets, and multiple homepage templates.
For news-based websites, the trending ticker widget is an excellent feature of the Neuton theme. This widget can showcase trending topics, tags, categories, or posts from within your blog. Use this to engage readers and draw more attention to news-worthy information on your website.
Key Features:
Price: Paid plans start at $49 per year
Insight is a beautiful theme that deserves a place in this collection of best magazine WordPress themes. Minimal and distraction-free, this is an ideal theme for an online magazine where viewers can concentrate solely on the content. Create a stunning homepage with built-in tools to attract visitors and grow your audience.
While a simple theme, Insight allows you to change your homepage’s layout. You can choose a two-column layout, mimicking the columns in physical newspapers. Or, you can choose to go for its default blog view. Either way, your featured images, and titles will be displayed vividly on your website.
Key Features:
Price: Paid plans start at $69 per year
Ultra is a flexible theme from the Themify family. It has 60+ pre-designed layouts to help you build your magazine site faster. Also, Ultra is powered by Themify Builder, one of many great WordPress page builders, making it easy to build the perfect online magazine for your needs.
The Magazine skin of Ultra allows you to build a beautiful multi-columned blog focusing on news and magazine-style content. Built with users in mind, the layouts provided put your top headlines at the forefront of your readers. Also, monetize your news site using the Magazine skin and Ultra for your new media project today.
Key Features:
Pricing: Paid plans start at $59 per year
You can build beautiful custom magazine sites with Extra and its Theme Builder. The power of the Divi and dedicated category builder will help you build a robust, fully customized magazine website for your publication. If branding and blogging are your strong suits, you’ll love the layouts and styling options that Felt LT gives. Finally, if you want a powerful magazine theme with a dedicated and brandable reviews system, Bucket is the best magazine WordPress theme for you to use.
| Themes | Price | Free Version | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Extra | $89/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 🥈 | Felt LT | $75/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 🥉 | Bucket | $75/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 4 | Pressbox | $85/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 5 | MH Magazine | $49/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 6 | Public Opinion | $49/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 7 | Newspaper | $118/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 8 | JNews | $118/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 9 | Magazine Pro | $360/year | âœ”ï¸ | Visit |
| 10 | Sydney | $69/year | âœ”ï¸ | Visit |
| 9 | Tribune | $59/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 9 | Compass | $69/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 10 | Neuton | $49/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 11 | Insight | $69/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 6 | Ultra | $59/year | ⌠| Visit |
And don’t forget to check out our multi-purpose Divi theme. Although Divi wasn’t explicitly created as a magazine theme, its flexible and powerful features make it an excellent fit for an online news or editorial website.
What is your favorite magazine theme? Please share, with reasons for the selection, in the comments below.
Article thumbnail image by Firuz Salamzadeh / shutterstock.com
The post 15 Best Magazine WordPress Themes in 2023 (Compared) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems in the world, powering over 40% of all websites on the internet. However, many users are unaware of the magic behind WordPress that makes it so powerful and flexible. One of the most important and least understood parts of WordPress is WP-Config. In this article, we will take a deep dive into WP-Config and uncover its secrets.
WP-Config is a file located in the root directory of your WordPress installation that contains all of the important settings and configuration options for your site. These settings control everything from your database connection details to your site’s URL and security keys. Without WP-Config, your WordPress site would not be able to function properly.
One of the most important things to understand about WP-Config is that it is a PHP file. This means that it can be edited using a code editor or the built-in WordPress file editor. However, it’s important to be careful when editing WP-Config, as even a small mistake can cause your site to stop working.
Now that you understand what WP-Config is and what it does, it’s time to start exploring its secrets. One of the most useful things you can do with WP-Config is to define custom constants that can be used throughout your WordPress installation. This can be useful for things like defining your site’s language, setting a custom upload directory, or disabling automatic updates.
Another powerful feature of WP-Config is the ability to set up a multisite network. This allows you to create multiple WordPress sites that share a single installation, making it easier to manage your sites and share content between them. To set up a multisite network, you will need to edit your WP-Config file and add some additional code.
In conclusion, WP-Config is a powerful tool that is essential for any WordPress user who wants to take their site to the next level. By understanding the secrets of WP-Config, you can enhance your WordPress experience and unlock new levels of flexibility and customization. So don’t be afraid to dive in and start exploring the magic behind WordPress!
Revive your Redirects with Quick Fix for Error 400!
So you’ve implemented redirects on your website to improve user experience and streamline navigation. But what happens when those redirects start throwing error 400 messages? Fret not! There’s a quick fix that can revive your redirects and get your website back on track.
Error 400, also known as the “Bad Request” error, occurs when the server cannot understand the client’s request due to malformed syntax. This can happen when there’s an issue with your redirects, such as an incorrect URL or a missing parameter. To fix this error and revive your redirects, all you need to do is use a URL validator tool to ensure that your redirects are correctly formatted and working as intended.
One quick and easy way to validate your URLs is to use an online tool like the W3C Link Checker. Simply enter the URL you’re redirecting from, and the URL you’re redirecting to, and hit “Check.” The tool will quickly scan your URLs and flag any issues that may be causing the error 400 message. Once you’ve identified the issue, you can make the necessary fixes to your redirects and get your website back up and running.
With the quick fix for error 400, reviving your redirects and getting your website back on track has never been easier. By using a URL validator tool like the W3C Link Checker, you can quickly identify and fix any issues with your redirects, ensuring that your website runs smoothly and provides users with a seamless experience. So don’t let error 400 slow you down – use the quick fix and get back to business!
In conclusion, error 400 can be a frustrating issue for website owners, but it doesn’t have to be a roadblock. With the quick fix for error 400, you can easily validate your URLs and fix any issues with your redirects, getting your website back up and running in no time. So next time you encounter error 400, remember that reviving your redirects is just a few clicks away.
If you’ve had to search for a WordPress theme recently, you’ve probably realized how many are available. Thousands of premium themes claim to be the best for your site, but many are relatively unproven. With all those themes vying for your attention, some names will seem more familiar. The best WordPress premium themes typically become popular because they work for many customers and are well-supported, so you can generally be more comfortable laying out cash for them.
This article will look at some of the best premium WordPress themes based on various factors and highlight some of their top features.
Before we select the most popular premium themes, let’s address the big question: why choose a premium theme when there are so many free themes available? For many people, a free theme seems sufficient and has the advantage of being free; however, premium themes have some advantages.
Firstly, premium themes are often better quality than free ones because the revenue generated gets funneled back into future iterations. Additionally, premium themes typically come with support, which can help you get the most out of the theme and its features. When you add in the more advanced functionality, higher security standards, and more responsive updates found in premium themes, the advantages are clear.
Once you decide to go with a premium theme, you need to find one. You have two main options to choose from: marketplaces and theme shops. Marketplaces like ThemeForest and Creative Market have a variety of themes for sale, often categorized and with reviews and ratings to help you find the perfect theme. Theme shops like Elegant Themes (hello!) and StudioPress are more focused but usually provide excellent support.
Choosing a premium theme requires more thought than just looking at the price to avoid making a mistake. It would be best to consider the reviews and reputation of the developers or theme shop and the support offered. Ensure the theme provides the features you need but doesn’t lock you in, so you can’t change themes in the future.
We’ve previously written a more in-depth discussion on choosing between free and premium themes.
First, there is no standard definition of “popular” when it comes to WordPress themes. A theme can be considered popular based on the number of downloads, installs, or sales (i.e., quantitative) or based on reputation or brand awareness (i.e., qualitative).
Both measures of assessing a theme have their challenges. Using numbers seems like it would be the most objective method, but in many cases, those figures are not available. While marketplaces like ThemeForest do show the number of sales, private theme shops often do not share their figures, making comparisons difficult.
The other route of deciding on the most popular themes based on name recognition, brand awareness, or reputation is not an exact science. You could try to measure search engine queries for theme names, but some bias is still likely to be introduced.
Ultimately, there is a significant element of unavoidable subjectivity in identifying popular themes. We’ve used a combination of available figures, other rankings, and overall reputation to create this list of our picks for the most popular premium themes.
We capped our list at 11 to keep the post manageable, but many other themes could be included on this list, so your picks might be different. Let’s look at our list of the most popular premium themes without further ado!
While we admit to being slightly biased, it is no secret that Divi has become one of the most popular themes. To us, it’s one of the best premium WordPress themes available! The flexibility of the in-built Divi Builder and Theme Builder enables you to create just about any layout you can imagine. It’s perfect for non-technical users but powerful enough for advanced users who want to customize their site entirely.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $89 per year
The Genesis Framework from StudioPress is a robust theme framework that enables novices and advanced developers to build websites with WordPress. The framework provides a secure, search-engine-optimized platform for severe websites, making it one of the best premium WordPress themes. The variety of child themes (such as the very popular Foodie Pro theme) provides unique starting points for custom sites.
Pricing: $360 per year
While you could use this theme to create general websites, OptimizePress has made a name for itself in high-converting landing pages, sales pages, and membership sites. This makes it one of the best premium WordPress themes for marketers and conversion-conscious website builders. The live page editor lets you view changes immediately, starting from 30 pre-tested templates. You can also get OptimizePress as a plugin, so if you’re interested in another theme, you can still add the OptimizePress magic.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $179 per year
Built on the popular free Responsive theme, Responsive Pro adds powerful customization features to one of the best free WordPress themes on the WordPress Theme Repository. You can modify colors, typography, and other options using the Theme Customizer. The theme includes in-built support for major plugins such as bbPress and WooCommerce. This simple and flexible theme offers a good starting point without all the complexity of some of the other themes on this list.
Pricing: Paid plans start at $47 per year
Currently the top-selling WordPress theme of all time on ThemeForest, Avada is described as a Swiss army knife of a theme. It includes powerful, easy-to-use tools via its Fusion Core plugin, including a visual page builder, shortcode generator, and mega menus (to name a few). Combine those with advanced theme options, and you can create unique layouts without touching a line of code.
Pricing: $138 per year
This list wouldn’t be complete without throwing an eCommerce-specific theme in the mix. Flatsome is the top-selling WooCommerce theme on ThemeForest. The included page builder lets you create any layout for your store’s pages. The theme also includes e-commerce-specific features to make your website stand out, such as multiple product grid styles, sale bubbles, and quick-zoom product images.
Pricing: $118 per year
BeTheme, like several of the other themes on this list, includes pre-made layouts for a quick start. But it claims to be the “biggest theme ever,” with over 190 layouts available. You should have no trouble finding a design to start your project, which you can customize using the in-built page builder.
Pricing: $120 per year
X The Theme and Pro are premium sister themes created by Theme Co. The themes rely on the Cornerstone page builder, another creation of Theme Co. The builder is a live page builder which prides itself on being a true “build in browser” experience. The themes have integrations with the top plugins of WordPress including Modern Events Calendar, ACF Pro, and LayerSlider, to name a few. If you are tired of the page builders out there and are looking for a different way to build websites in WordPress, X, and Pro are the best premium WordPress themes for you.
Pricing: $158 per year
Bridge is a beautiful multipurpose theme and is currently a top seller on ThemeForest. With over two dozen layout concepts and over 100 demos, you can choose a starting point to fit any website project. With full typographic control, including font packs and access to custom CSS, you can create a unique design to meet your needs.
Pricing: $138 per year
Enfold is another top-selling and highly-rated theme on ThemeForest. The high rating is mainly due to the theme’s focus on user-friendliness. From the drag-and-drop page editor to the outstanding support and step-by-step tutorials, Enfold is easy for those just starting. Features like an integrated form builder and advanced options ready it to provide you with a beautiful site in no time.
Pricing: $118 per year
Salient aims to provide you with the platform to create beautifully responsive designs with their theme. With over 1,000 icons, over 600 fonts, and unlimited color possibilities, your theme will be unique without touching code. A powerful theme options panel and an advanced page builder enable you to modify your site and page layouts further.
Pricing: $120 per year
| Plugin | Price | Free Version | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Divi | $89/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 🥈 | Genesis Pro | $360/year | âœ”ï¸ | Visit |
| 🥉 | OptimizePress | $179/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 4 | Responsive Pro | $59/year | âœ”ï¸ | Visit |
| 5 | Avada | $138/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 6 | Flatsome | $118/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 7 | BeTheme | $120/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 8 | Bridge | $138/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 9 | X and Pro | $158/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 10 | Enfold | $118/year | ⌠| Visit |
| 11 | Salient | $120/year | ⌠| Visit |
Divi is one of the best premium themes to work with for the person who wants absolute control over their website. The Theme Builder and customer support provided make it a world-class theme for those new to WordPress and those who have been building websites for a long time. Genesis Pro is for the web designer looking to use full site editing and wants to stay true to the block editor. Genesis Pro allows you to use any page builder you see fit. Or, you can stick with Gutenberg, the new WordPress standard, and build a powerful website without learning a single line of code.
Finally, if you want to build high-converting, powerful landing pages and marketing sites, OptimizePress is your premium theme. Creators, entrepreneurs, and marketing professionals tired of using multiple platforms to do the job will love the tools that OptimizePress provides within their premium theme.
When you need to choose a theme for a WordPress website, and you’ve decided on using a premium theme (which we advise!), the most popular ones are often an excellent place to start your selection process. We have provided you with our list of the best premium WordPress themes based on several factors. The list should give you a headstart for your projects this year if you feel overwhelmed by the number of themes.
What has your experience been with the themes featured in our list? Please let us know and subscribe to the comments section below!
The post 11 Best Premium WordPress Themes in 2023 (Reviewed & Compared) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.
As a website owner, one of the most important things you can do is to make sure you have a backup of your site. Not only does having a backup give you peace of mind, it can also help you in the event of a disaster or unexpected issue. In this article, we’ll explore some happy ways to backup your site and keep your data safe.
Backing up your site on a regular basis is crucial for ensuring that you always have a recent copy of your data. There are several ways to do this, including using a plugin or a backup service. Some hosting providers also offer backup services, so be sure to check with your provider to see what options are available.
One happy way to backup your site is to use a plugin like UpdraftPlus, which allows you to schedule backups and store them off-site, such as in the cloud. This means that even if your server crashes or your site is hacked, you’ll still have a recent backup that you can use to restore your site.
Another option is to use a backup service like CodeGuard, which automatically backs up your site on a daily basis and stores the backups in the cloud. CodeGuard also offers a one-click restore feature, which makes it easy to restore your site to a previous state if something goes wrong.
In addition to backing up your site, it’s also important to make sure that your backups are secure. This means storing your backups in a safe location and using encryption to protect your data. One happy way to do this is to use a backup service that offers encryption and secure storage, such as VaultPress.
VaultPress is a backup service that’s built by the same team behind WordPress itself. It provides automatic daily backups, as well as malware scanning and repairs. All backups are encrypted and stored in a secure off-site location, so you can be sure that your data is safe.
Another happy way to safeguard your data is to use a backup service like Backblaze. Backblaze provides unlimited backup storage for a low monthly fee, and offers encryption and 24/7 customer support. With Backblaze, you can rest easy knowing that your data is secure and protected.
In conclusion, backing up your site on a regular basis is one of the most important things you can do to protect your data and ensure that your site is always up and running. By using happy backup solutions like plugins, backup services, and secure storage options, you can rest easy knowing that your data is safe and protected.
WordPress site owners know the importance of keeping their websites up to date. Plugins, themes, and the WordPress core require the latest versions to ensure a safe browsing experience for site visitors. In addition, when you keep your sites up to date, security risks drop dramatically. Although updating plugins and themes isn’t difficult, it can be overwhelming when you have to keep up with dozens or even hundreds of websites. In this post, we’ll give you our top nine picks for the best WordPress site management tools to help you quickly lessen the burden of keeping multiple websites up to date.
Let’s get started.
Before we get to the best of the best, let’s delve into what WordPress site management tools are. These tools simplify managing, monitoring, and maintaining multiple WordPress websites. With features such as updating WordPress core, themes, and plugins, performing backups, managing security, and monitoring site performance, WordPress site management tools are a massive time saver. By automating mundane tasks and providing a central location to view and manage your websites, you can reduce the risk of common site errors and make site management a breeze.
We considered a few factors when we set out to find the best WordPress site management tools. We thoroughly tested numerous platforms to determine which had the most features, the most reasonable pricing, and the most accessible interfaces to work with. With that in mind, let’s review our top nine best WordPress site management tools.
Our top pick for the best WordPress site management tool is MainWP, and with good reason. It offers an extensive range of free features, such as an uptime monitor, scheduled backups, Jetpack, Sucuri security scanning, and a site vulnerability checker. MainWP allows you to easily update plugins and themes, manage users, and easily import and export websites.
One of MainWP’s standout features is its user-friendly interface. With an intuitive dashboard, managing multiple plugin or theme updates can be done with just one click. Organizing sites using tags, keeping notes for better organization, and effortlessly managing clients and users are also made possible with MainWP. Additionally, publishing, editing, unpublishing, or deleting posts and pages is a breeze, making post and page management fast and effective.
MainWP’s setup involves creating a new WordPress install and installing the MainWP Dashboard plugin. Afterward, the MainWP Child plugin is installed on each site you want to manage. MainWP ensures security by utilizing OpenSSL encryption, which means that once a child site is connected, it will only accept requests from that dashboard, making it a secure way to manage all your sites. Although the initial setup takes time and effort, the time-saving benefits make it well worth it in the long run.
MainWP is Best For:
For those seeking a top-of-the-line WordPress site management tool, MainWP is an excellent choice, offering many features and options. The best part? Most of these tools are free, with a premium package featuring 32 extensions for just $29 monthly. Whether you’re managing just a few sites or hundreds, MainWP’s intuitive dashboard and outstanding features make it the top tool on our list, perfect for any WordPress user.
Pricing: $29 per month.
Next up on our list of best WordPress site management tools is ManageWP, and for a good reason. It offers the most free features on our list, making it a top choice for budget-conscious users. With ManageWP’s free version, you’ll get access to many helpful tools, including the ability to add unlimited websites, manage updates for plugins and themes, enjoy a monthly cloud backup, and easily access your admin dashboard with just one click. You’ll also be able to clean up post revisions and spam comments, helping keep your site running smoothly.
With ManageWP, you can streamline your workflow by adding tags, assigning sites to clients, and using filters to search through them. But that’s not all ManageWP has to offer. It also includes features like maintenance mode, which allows you to update your site without losing visitors. You can also access client reporting and analytics to gauge your site’s performance and run performance checks to ensure your sites are always healthy.
To take things to the next level, you can purchase premium add-ons to access even more features. These include the ability to back up, restore, or clone your websites, perform safe updates, gain valuable SEO insights, monitor uptime and links, and more.
ManageWP is Best For:
If you’re looking for a free site management tool to manage your websites, ManageWP is an excellent choice. However, there are some caveats. While the basic features are free, you’ll likely need to purchase their all-in-one package if you want all the bells and whistles. Unfortunately, that comes with a hefty price tag of $150 per month. That said, that cost is completely justified considering you can monitor as many websites as you like.
Pricing: Free, with monthly add-ons starting at $25.
Our following site management tool is GoDaddy Pro, an efficient and free option for anyone seeking to manage multiple websites with ease. GoDaddy Pro’s interface is similar to ManageWP, which offers effortless plugin management, WordPress core updates, post revisions, spam comment control, uptime monitoring, and much more. With GoDaddy Pro, you can add as many websites as you want, regardless of where they are hosted.
The dashboard is easy to navigate, allowing you to manage every site individually or collectively. You can assign sites to different groups, making it easy to manage sites by client or tags. Furthermore, you can perform various tasks such as checking broken links, monitoring individual site performance, approving comments, and making safe updates by creating a backup of your site’s software before updates occur. Additionally, GoDaddy Pro provides client management features but is limited to adding clients with GoDaddy products.
GoDaddy Pro is Best For:
While GoDaddy Pro is an excellent choice for those on a budget due to its free pricing, it may not be the best option for those seeking comprehensive client management tools, especially if their clients are not exclusively on GoDaddy.
Pricing: Free
Our next entry, WPMU DEV, offers site management for an unlimited number of WordPress websites. Unlike other platforms on our list, WPMU DEV uses dedicated plugins for all site performance enhancements. These plugins are installed on every site within the dashboard and are designed to help with security, performance, SEO, backups, image optimization, and uptime monitoring.
WPMU DEV has several tabs to manage different aspects of your websites. By accessing the plugin tab, you can effortlessly view required updates for individual websites and proceed to update them one by one or collectively. But that’s not all; WPMU DEV goes a step further by providing the option to add team members to aid in site management. This feature is beneficial for those monitoring a significant number of websites. You can reduce your workload and receive much-needed assistance by delegating tasks to team members. Plus, you can enable client billing through an integrated payment system where you can create and send invoices and set up automatic payments, all through a customized white-label payment portal.
WPMU DEV is Best For:
If you want to manage your websites using plugins that enable you to control updates, image optimization, and more, then WPMU DEV can be a good option. However, if you prefer not to overload your website with more plugins, you might want to consider exploring ManageWP or MainWP as viable solutions.
Pricing: $7.50 per month.
WP Remote is another excellent site management tool that allows you to control multiple websites with a single click. Built on BlogVault, WP Remote offers features such as plugin, theme, and WordPress core updates, performance enhancements, uptime monitoring, team and client collaboration, and scheduled updates for free.
Upgrading to a paid plan unlocks additional features that will take your website management to the next level. You can easily back up and restore your website and create staging environments with a single click. WP Remote also provides one of the most comprehensive security scans with any site management tool. WP Remote’s powerful firewall immediately blocks any brute force attacks or bad actors while notifying you of vulnerable plugins or themes. And with excellent malware detection, any malware concerns will become a thing of the past, as you can stop threats in their tracks with just one click.
WP Remote is Best For:
If you’re seeking an effective solution to tackle security threats across multiple websites, look no further than WP Remote. This powerful tool offers a comprehensive suite of security features, including malware detection and removal and brute force attack prevention, ensuring your websites are safe and secure. The cost is reasonable, with premium plans starting at just $29 monthly for a 5-site license.
Pricing: $29 per month.
CMS Commander stands out as a site management tool with its user-friendly interface. Users can effortlessly manage updates, add and control WordPress user accounts, and even perform automatic backups and restorations with just one click, all within a simplified dashboard. But that’s not all; CMS Commander has gone above and beyond by providing additional features that surpass most other site management tools on our list. These features include bulk installation of plugins, the ability to copy site settings and apply them to other sites, bulk post-editing, content import, and much more.
Although CMS Commander’s user interface may not be the most visually appealing, its functionality is unmatched. It is designed to provide a seamless experience, allowing you to manage every aspect of your websites effortlessly. The intuitive layout, complete with well-designed tabs and icons, makes identifying and navigating the features you need easy. You can quickly determine which of your sites require updates, view critical analytics, clean up comments, access post drafts and revisions, and utilize other essential tools, such as security features, all in one place.
CMS Commander is Best For:
CMS Commander is a great choice if you’re looking for advanced features beyond traditional site management tools. With an intuitive dashboard and all tools accessible on a single screen, you’ll have easy access to everything you need. Their starter plan is affordable, offering ten websites for just $12 monthly. However, if you have hundreds of sites, CMS Commander offers higher-tiered plans to accommodate your needs.
Pricing: $12 per month.
Our next recommended WordPress site management tool is InfiniteWP, which stands out from the other entries on our list by not offering a free tier. Despite this, it’s still worth considering due to the range of impressive features it provides. In addition to the standard site management tools like updates, malware scanning, and one-click admin access, InfiniteWP offers much more. You can install, manage, and migrate WordPress, monitor your site’s uptime, and back up and restore sites with just one click. Moreover, it offers extensive client reporting tools that you can use to keep your clients informed about their site’s performance.
To manage multiple websites with InfiniteWP, you must first create a blank WordPress install for the admin panel to be housed. It works as the hub to monitor all of your websites. Additionally, you must install the IWP Client plugin on each site you’d like to monitor. While this does take a bit of time to accomplish (especially if you have a ton of sites), once set up, you’ll save a lot of time moving forward. In our experience, using the Chrome browser to install the software is best, as Safari was quite buggy.
InfiniteWP is Best For:
With InfititeWP, you can sign up for free, but you’ll have to sign up for a premium account to take advantage of its services. You can monitor up to 10 sites on the starter plan for $147 annually, making it a better fit for those with only a few sites to manage. Also, due to its glitchiness on Safari, if you’re a Mac user who prefers using its native browser, you might want to consider another option, such as MainWP.
Pricing: $147 per year
WP Umbrella, our next entry on the list, offers a different approach to how you pay for its services. Its modular pricing approach allows you to pay per site instead of a fixed price for a certain number of sites. It offers a user-friendly interface that provides uptime and performance analytics, displays PHP errors, facilitates updating WordPress core, themes, and plugins, allows for scheduled backups, and even lets you create maintenance report templates for sharing site health information with clients.
The uptime and performance tab allows you to view various analytics about your site’s Google PageSpeed test results, along with metrics for response time, uptime, and core web vitals, such as first contentful paint (FCP), speed index, total blocking time, and more. WP Umbrella offers a 14-day free trial without needing a credit card when signing up. This allows for plenty of time to test out the platform. One downside to WP Umbrella is the lack of comment, spam, and post-revision optimization offered by rival platforms. However, the ability to create custom site health report templates is a nice feature to offset this, which is great for keeping your clients informed about their site’s status.
WP Umbrella is Best For:
Those with a handful of websites will appreciate WP Umbrella’s pricing structure, which charges per site rather than an inflated price like other tools on the list. Plus, if you like the idea of creating custom client reports to reflect your branding, WP Umbrella is a must.
Pricing: $1.99 per site per month.
Closing out our list of best WordPress site management tools is iThemes Sync. This comprehensive tool offers a variety of features for managing multiple websites, including one-click updates for WordPress core, plugins, and themes, uptime and performance monitoring, and the ability to create backups remotely through its BackupBuddy integration. With iThemes Sync, you can also benefit from robust security options thanks to its integration with the iThemes security plugin. Additionally, the tool comes equipped with an SEO checker that seamlessly integrates with Yoast SEO, giving you real-time feedback on your SEO scores and readability.
The iThemes Sync dashboard is a breeze to navigate. It offers several tabs that help you manage your sites effortlessly, such as updating plugins and themes, viewing site performance, and creating reports that can be automatically generated and sent to your clients. Furthermore, iThemes Sync includes a Stash tab that allows you to store all your site backups in one convenient location.
However, what truly sets iThemes Sync apart is its ability to create custom, user-friendly WordPress dashboards for your clients. With this feature, you can handpick which menu items and widgets your clients can see while hiding unnecessary and distracting admin notices. The Client Dashboard feature lets you control how your clients interact with their WordPress sites, providing a streamlined and less confusing interface.
iThemes Sync is Best For:
For those interested in creating custom WordPress dashboards or starting a WordPress maintenance business, iThemes Sync is worth trying out. With a free 30-day trial, you’ll have ample time to test its features. Although it may not be the most budget-friendly option, it offers exceptional tools for managing clients that can help to justify the cost.
Pricing: $69 per year for 5 sites.
Among the site management tools highlighted in this post, MainWP and ManageWP truly stand out due to their exceptional free features, which include seamless WordPress core, plugin, and theme updates, instant WordPress access with just a single click, and the flexibility to add unlimited WordPress sites. MainWP is an ideal choice for those seeking a self-hosted solution. In contrast, ManageWP runs on cloud-based servers, eliminating the need for a separate WordPress installation for the dashboard.
| Plugin | Price | Free Option | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | MainWP | $29/month | âœ”ï¸ | Start |
| 🥈 | ManageWP | $25/month | âœ”ï¸ | Start |
| 🥉 | GoDaddy Pro | Free | âœ”ï¸ | Start |
| 4 | WPMU DEV | $7.50/month | âœ”ï¸ | Start |
| 5 | WP Remote | $29/month | âœ”ï¸ | Start |
| 6 | CMS Commander | $12/month | ⌠| Start |
| 7 | InfiniteWP | $147/year | ⌠| Start |
| 8 | WP Umbrella | $1.99/month | ⌠| Start |
| 9 | iThemes Sync | $6.99/month | ⌠| Start |
Ultimately, the ideal WordPress site management tool for you will depend on your preferences. However, since both MainWP and ManageWP offer free basic features, we strongly recommend trying both to determine which suits your needs the best.
Need more tools for WordPress? Check out all our articles featuring the best tools to use in WordPress.
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